Grammar exercises The Gerund

1. The Syntactic Function of the Gerund

Ex. 18. Study the following chart. Translate the sentences into Russian.

subject	1. It's no use arguing with her. 2. His* being so slow is very annoying.
predi-cative	3. What annoys me is his being careless.
direct object	4. I don't mind your including this book in the list. 5. He suggests getting in touch with her as soon as possible.
prepo-sitional object	6. He insists on doing the job himself. 7. I am thinking of writing to him.
attri-bute	8. I don't see the reason for his complaining about it.

Ex. 19. Paraphrase the parts in bold type using gerundial phrases, mind the prepositions.

1. That she is so fussy is not a little unpleasant. 2. What surprised everybody was that he was able to do it. 3. The doctor insists that she should put off the trip. 4. We don't mind if we go there by train. 5. He suspected that I knew the truth. 6. There is no doubt that he is intel­ligent. 7. He suggests that we should watch the football match oh TV instead of going to the stadium.

Ex. 20. Make one sentence out of the following pairs of sentences by using gerundial phrases. The part in bold type is to become the predicate.

1. He is clever. There is no doubt about it. 2. Why waste time on such things? There is no sense in that. 3. He solves cross-word puzzles very well. He is good at it. 4. He likes to talk music. He gets pleasure out of it. 5. The child usually drinks milk before going to bed. He'ls used to it. 6. He has an annoying habit. He mispronounces names. 7. You were running a risk. You might have caught cold. 8. You can't tfeat him like a child. It's no use.

Ex. 21. Make up sentences using gerundial phrases according to the model.

M o d e l: (a) to be tired of (b) to argue

I am tired of arguing.

1. (a) to be good at (b) to make friends. 2. (a) to be busy^* (b) to ar­range an exhibition of the best photos of the year. 3. (a) to be proud of (b) to be a pilot. 4. (a) to be tired (b) to quarrel with smb. 5. (a) to be afraid of^** (b) to catch a cold. 6. (a) to be fond of (b) to dance. 7. (a) to be sure of (b) to be ill. 8. to be ashamed of^*** (b) to be impolite to smb. 9. (a) to be worth (b) to remember.

Ex. 22. Study the following char.^**** Translate the sentences into Russian.

an adverbial modifier of time	1. On (upon) seeing me on the other side of the street he shouted to me. 2. In copying the text he missed a line. 3. After finishing his work he went for a walk. 4. Before taking action you had better make inquiries.
an adverbial modifier of manner or attending circumstances	5. He left without letting us know. 6. I upset all their plans by refusing to come.

A. An Adverbial Modifier of time

Ex. 23. Replace adverbial clauses of time by gerundial phrases.

1. When he arrived at the airport, he went to the left-luggage office first thing. 2. When he was looking through the documents he came across a very interesting photograph. 3. After he had packed all the things he phoned for a taxi. 4. She hesitated before she entered the room. 5. When I was passing their house, I noticed that all the windows were dark. 6. After they settled down they started enjoying the place. 7. When I learned the results of the competition I rushed to the telephone-booth. 8. When he reached the village, he slowed down. 9. Before she rose from table she made me a sign to follow her. 10. When she left school, she got a job at the post-office.

B. An Adverbial Modifier of Manner or Attending Circmnstcnces

Ex. 24. Answer the following questions using gerundial phrases accord­ing to the model.

M о d e 1 : (a) How did he manage to calm her? (to promise to return soon). He managed to calm her by promising to return soon.

(b) How did they listen to her? (not to interrupt) They listened to her without interrupting.

1. How did you learn to speak the language so well? (to speak) 2. How did the committee accept the terms? (not to argue) 3. How did the teacher find the way to the child's heart? (to treat kindly) 4. How did he leave? (not to say good-bye) 5. How did she learn to play the piano so well? (to practise a lot) 6. How did he tell you about the accident? (not to go into details) 7. How did they manage to get such excellent results? (to use a new method) 8. How did the delegate manage to get there in time? (to take a plane)

Ex. 25. Supply the missing prepositions to suit the syntactic junction of the gerund.

1. I stopped, ... opening the door. 2. This time he felt no surprise ... meeting his friend. 3. ... washing up she settled down in a comfort­able armchair before TV. 4. As the visitor looked through the open doorway, ... passing, he stopped short. 5. What did she mean ... being busy? 6. He tore the note into pieces ... reading it. 7. The Gadfly couldn't run the risk ... being seen. 8. I insist ... remaining here. 9. Outside it kept ... raining. 10. The child nodded his head ... re­plying. 11.1 kept her ... falling down. 12. He went ... saying the things that meant nothing at all, but which were, somehow, better than silence. 13. ... washing up she broke a cup.

Ex. 26. Translate the following sentences using the gerund in the func­tion of an adverbial modifier.

1. Он включил меня в список экскурсантов без лишних разгово­ров. 2. Она уговорила меня ехать, сказав, что она присоединится ко мне через неделю. 3. Тем, что ты будешь надоедать ему, ты толь­ко рассердишь его еще больше. 4. Она уладила этот вопрос, не под­нимая лишнего шума. 5. Проснувшись, я не сразу понял, где нахо­жусь. 6. Проходя мимо их дома, он решил зайти. 7. После окончания школы она стала работать секретарем. 8. Не вдаваясь в подробности, он сразу перешел к существу дела. 9. Упаковывая вещи, он вдруг вспомнил, что совершенно машинально (не думая) вместе с докумен­тами упаковал и билет. 10. Мы чувствовали себя бодро, несмотря на то, что были очень голодные. 11. Перед тем как лечь спать, он решил написать письмо домой.